Working with government to make a national difference

22 March 2021

We’re proud to have worked closely with the MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) in exploring the way landlords communicate fire safety issues with social housing residents.

The MHCLG have now published their recommendations for improving communications around fire and building safety, which you can read here.

Our involved resident, Rosie Ley, and our Chief Operating Officer, Jane Porter, were both part of the MHCLG’s Social Sector (Building Safety) Engagement Best Practice Group.

We were one of eight social landlords invited to join the group, which was established in March 2019.

We piloted different approaches to communicating and engaging with residents on what they would do in the event of a fire.

For example, we analysed the impact of emailing a select group of our residents a written fire safety guide compared to a pair of animated videos (both produced by the London Fire Brigade). Our residents were then invited to feedback on the types of communication they’d received and how much information they had retained and were able to recall.

Jane Porter said: “We understand getting the communication right is vital when sharing information around fire safety and specifically what to do if there was a fire. I’m proud one of our involved residents was able to help drive this project and that it has been recognised in the White Paper – a Charter for Social Housing. The research we carried out with our residents has helped shape recommendations which will hopefully be used as best practice by social landlords across the country.”